Acton-Boxborough Regional High School
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| Acton-Boxborough Regional High School | |
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| "Home of the Colonials" | |
| Established | Unknown |
| School type | Public |
| Religious affiliation | none |
| Principal | Steve Donovan |
| Location | Acton, MA, USA |
| Campus | Charter Rd. Complex |
| Enrollment | 1,849 |
| Faculty | 100 |
| Average class size | unknown |
| Student:teacher ratio |
18.4:1 |
| Average SAT scores (2004) |
613 verbal 638 math |
| Athletics | 32 Interscholastic Teams |
| Color(s) | Blue & Gold |
| Mascot | The Colonial |
| Homepage | http://ab.mec.edu/abrhs/ |
Acton-Boxborough Regional High School serves the Massachusetts towns of Acton and Boxborough, with roughly 450 students per grade level in grades 9 through 12.
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[edit] ABRHS Facility
Enjoying a newly renovated and state-of-the-art facility, Acton-Boxborough Regional High School is situated down-hill from the Raymond J. Grey Junior High School, at 36 Charter Road in Acton. Raymond J. Grey Junior High School occupies the facility that until 1973 was the High School.
[edit] Academics
[edit] Tradition of Excellence
The school is celebrated as one of the finest public high schools in Massachusetts. For this reason, many families move to Acton so that their children may enjoy this excellence of education.
One positive attribute of ABRHS is its enormous spectrum of classes that it offers. Based on performance through the years, students have the options of taking CP (college prep), Accelerated, Honors, or AP (college credit) classes. There are pre-requisites for Honors and AP classes, usually accepting only students with an A or B average in the prior level.
Consistently, over 90% of its graduates matriculate college within two years of graduation.
In the 2005 English Language Arts section of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam, of the 438 10th grade students taking this section, 48% scored "Advanced", and 42% scored "Proficient". Only 8% scored "Needs Improvement" and 2% did not pass. In the Mathematics section for the same year, of the 439 10th grade students taking this section, 74% of 10th grade students scored "Advanced", and 16% scored "Proficient". Only 6% scored "Needs Improvement" and 4% did not pass.[1]
Particular areas of commendation in previous years have been high standardized test scores in Mathematics and the Sciences, as well as the school's success in operating with a low per pupil expenditure. (This expenditure was necessary as the town does not have enough money for higher funds.)
In 2006, students from the school were awarded a grant from MIT, which only twenty high schools across the United States received, to develop a reuseable fire-extinguishing grenade for and Cisco Systems will provide additional funding and mentoring for the students. [1]
For the past three years, individual students or groups of two students have been nationally recognized in the Siemens-Westinghouse Competition, a prestigious nationwide science competition. The latest of these nationally recognized students were George Mossessian and Prabhat Putchakayala, who achieved Semifinalist status along with 300 other submitions across the country with their paper entitled "Random Non-Patitioned Iterated Function Systems Algorithms for Fractal Image Compression using Artificial Neural Networks." [2]
[edit] Math Team
ABRHS's math team came in second for large schools at the MAML state championship meet in 2006 at Canton High School. It also came in third for large schools at the NEAML New England championship meet in 2006, also at Canton High School.
[edit] Science Team
ABRHS's science team also performs well, having won the state olympiad in 1993, 2005 and 2006. Both times, it represented Massachusetts in the National Science Olympiad, placing 14th nationally in 2006 and 12th in 1993.
[edit] Envirothon
An environmentally oriented science competition that requires a team of five to compete in different challenges. Came in 3rd at the 2006 competition overall with 1st in the aquatics and 2nd in the soils subsections.
[edit] Speech and Debate
The Speech and Debate Team is one of the best in Massachusetts, frequently winning or placing highly in state tournaments.
[edit] Athletics
[edit] Football
Acton Boxborough is known for its outstanding Varsity Football team. Since 1993 A-B has dominated the Dual County League winning the division 13 times since. The team is coached by the wonderous Bill Maver who has coached in Acton for 20 years. The varsity team has won 5 "Super Bowls" in a row. Also in that time, the team broke a state record for consecutive victories by winning 52 games in a row.
[edit] Volleyball
The Acton Boxborough volleyball team has always hada slow, yet steady pace through the season. In 2003, when then-freshman Stef Turner decided to start up the team at AB, encouragment for the sport has grow to an all-school sport. Though the team has never won a championship, the tightly knit team always plays their hardest at every game, and in 2006 they wen all the way to the states competion, but lost with a well off 3rd place. As star player Stef Turner leaves for college in September, new captains Sonya Mukhanov, Elizabeth Cipar, and Teresa Zhou are working hard to make the 2007 spring season excell.
[edit] Extracurriculars
[edit] Marching Band
ABRHS's marching band has also been noted for its excellence. The marching band has been awarded the best band marching in the Boston St. Patrick's day parade for the past six years. In 2003, the band played at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and in 2004, they marched in the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade. In addition, the band went on a trip to Ireland to march in the St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin in 2006, and was awarded "The Best Band Overall in Dublin's St. Patrick's Day Parade," as well as receiving an award for "most entertaining" at the Limerick International Band Competition. Most recently the band has appeared in the statewide MICCA competition, recieving a bronze medal for their performance of The Incredibles. In spring of 2008 the band will be traveling to Washington DC. This ensemble is led by Mark Hickey, who has been director for the last 13 years.
[edit] Chorus
ABRHS's Choral Program is an important part of the AB Music Department. Two choirs, the Chorus as well as Women's Ensemble, are open to all students. The select ensemble, the Madrigal Singers, performs in neighboring communities betwixt Boston and Worcester, and has been awarded the Gold medal at MICCA. The choral program also supports two A Capella groups, Downbeat and 13 Fish Named Jennifer. Each year the Chorus performs Cabaret,a variety show, and a Madrigal Dinner to entertain the town. The choirs sing repertoire from different time periods and composers, each one improving the many skills of the choir.
In the spring of 2007, the Concert Choir, Madrigals and Women's Ensemble are travelling to Italy for one week on a concert tour.
[edit] Proscenium Circus
ABRHS's Drama Club, Proscenium Circus, is well known for producing outstanding plays and musicals that are often greater than is expected from high school students. The last four musicals, My Favorite Year, Anything Goes, 42nd Street, and this year's production of Once Upon a Mattress, have all contained outstanding choreography, acting, and singing.
This season, AB Proscenium Circus has produced:
Holes: The Fall play based on the book by Louis Sachar. The story follows Stanley Yelnats, played by AB Junior Garrett Richardson. Yelnats was wrongly accused of stealing a very valuable pair of shoes, and is thus sent to Camp Green Lake, a detentional center in the desert of Texas. Yelnats becomes friends with the rest of the boys in "D-Tent", Armpit (Ben S.), Magnet (Craig Reid), Zig-Zag (Christian Latham), X-Ray (Matt Samperi), and Zero (Nick Rizza). At the end of the production, the D-Tent boys and the rest of the cast dance to "Dig It", choreographed by AB sophomore, Ceci Potter. Connor Finnegan, Endurance (TV Show) contestant, had a role in the play. The play was directed by Linda Potter, stage managed by Allie Connell, and the Student Director was Meghan Veno. Holes sold more tickets than any other ABRHS Fall Play in history.
Once Upon A Mattress: The musical Once Upon A Mattress is about a prince whose mother will not let him marry. The Queen (Nora Murphy) wants her son to marry a true princess, so she puts Princess Winnifred (Kate Rodophele) through a test to see if she is a real princess. Throughout the kingdom, no one can get married until Prince Dauntless (Ty Wilson) does, so the whole kingdom is rooting for Winnifred to come through, including the mute King Sextimus (Noah Simes). The musical was an amazing success and the set was one of the greatest ever produced by a high school. The musical was directed by Linda Potter, stage managed by Allie Connell, and the Student Director was Nick Rizza.
A Piece of My Heart: AB's 2007 MHSDG State Play entry was adapted from the full-length play by Shirley Lauro. It tells the story of five women (four nurses and a musician) and their experiences in the Vietnam War. The play follows the characters of Martha (Dani Forshay), Sissy (Kiki Boyles), Whitney (Jenny Carrington), Leann (Claudia Contrada), and Maryjo (Lura Chamberlain) before, after, and during the war and provides an edgy, poignant, stylized narrative on the atrocities of war and the effects of such atrocities on those immersed in it. Supporting characters include two head nurses and two american men/soldiers. The play was directed by Andrea Southwick and stage managed by Allie Connell.
Upcoming Productions: The 2007 Spring play is going to be "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and a night of individual class plays will be in May.
[edit] Notable Alumni
- Tom Barrasso: NHL hockey player
- Jeff Norton: NHL hockey player
